


dreams

by YellowCrayon



Category: Frankenstein & Related Fandoms, Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, do you ever YEARN
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 15:01:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20099110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YellowCrayon/pseuds/YellowCrayon
Summary: In the midst of his dreams, Victor Frankenstein is faced with a nightmare. He fears losing the only man he has left. But can he bear it?





	dreams

The words still rang clear through Victor’s mind.

_ “My dear friend.” _

_ “My dear Frankenstein.” _

_ “My dear Victor.” _

_ Dear. _That is who he was to the man most special to him. But these were not words of the past, oh no. Each and every night he heard them, again and again with a smile on his face as he lay asleep quietly in bed. 

That was when he _ truly _ lived— when the spirits of his loved ones accompanied him in his dreams. “I see them,” Victor insisted, heart beating rapidly. “I see them there with arms outstretched, gazing at me fondly. Their presence sustains me. How eagerly I await their warm embrace!” 

All Walton could do was look on sadly.

Indeed, that night Victor experienced tenderness all over again when he found himself enveloped in Clerval’s arms. He breathed in the sweet scent of his hair. It soothed him, though he could not help but feel an ominous presence.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Victor looked around and saw that he was with Henry in an open field. From far away he heard the rustling of grass. It came closer and closer. Until…….

He saw Walton, standing in the distance.

Victor laughed. Then he remembered.

“Walton……. Oh, Walton! Henry, I _ must _introduce you to Walton!” He pushed himself up from the ground, turning around to offer a hand to Henry.

No one was there.

Victor frowned. “Henry?” The name echoed uneasily around him. No answer. Though this should have been a cause for concern, he didn’t worry too much about it. He’d find Henry in his dreams. He always did.

Turning back once more, Victor called for his newfound friend. “Robert,” he cried, a warmness in his voice. “Robert! Over here!”

Robert blinked. Other than that, no reaction.

A sense of uneasiness settled in Victor’s chest. He pushed the feeling away. Something was missing, he thought. He could not hear the ocean’s roar, nor taste the salty air. Coldness did not nip his cheeks.

Robert shouldn’t be here. But nonetheless, here he was.

Victor took a step forward. He looked down, suddenly observing that the grass had withered wherever he went. The wind softly blew Robert’s hair, and surrounding sky seemed darker than before.

Something’s coming. 

A disembodied voice whispered in his ear: _ Can you feel it? _Victor looked around him wildly, grabbing for the pistol he did not have. It came nearer. He could not stop it. His entire frame trembled as he witnessed a living nightmare manifest before his very eyes.

A dark mass had slowly started to rise behind Walton, growing higher and higher until it amassed into a hideous, monstrous shape. There was a horrifying moment of stillness. The being opened his eyes to reveal a horrid yellow glow, grinning widely as he eyed his prey.

His enormous hands opened as he lunged for Walton’s neck.

“_Robert _ !” Victor felt hot tears spill down his cheeks. Not him, _ anyone _but—

***

Robert opened his eyes to the sounds of bedsheets being thrown to the floor. He had not been sleeping. In fact, he had been staring at the ceiling for quite a while now, thinking about what Victor had told him earlier that day.

_ I thank you, Walton, for your kind intentions towards so miserable a wretch; but when you speak of new ties and fresh affections, think you that any can replace those who are gone? _

Walton meant to write down the rest of the conversation, but instead, set his pen down in dejection. Writing, which usually cleared his head, only brought muddled thoughts to the forefront of his mind. He hadn’t known what to do with himself since then.

However, the rumpling of bedsheets snapped him out of his pensive state. Robert then heard the sound of two feet hitting the floor, followed immediately by a loud thump and a quiet yelp.

Robert’s head shot up. “Victor?”

There before him, Victor Frankenstein laid sprawled out on the floor. Shakily, he pushed himself up with his hands and, looking behind him, suddenly made a mad scramble for his satchel on the opposite side of the room.

“Victor.”

If Victor had heard him, he gave no sign that he did. Almost tripping under the weight of his own body, Victor grabbed the satchel and rummaged around its contents, finally pulling out a pistol. How eerily it glinted in the moonlight.

Startled, Robert finally swung his legs over the side of the bed and jumped to his feet, already making his way over to where Victor was.

“Victor, what is the meaning of—”

“I have to _ find _him, Walton,” Victor choked out. With newfound strength, he strode back to his bed and picked up his coat from where it was on the floor, beginning to put it on.

Walton’s eyes widened. Oh, no. Not on his watch.

“_No._” Robert shook his head. “No. You’re staying right here Victor. This is insanity.” He arrived at Victor’s side and grabbed his shoulder, only for Victor to shake him off.

“I’m leaving _ now _, Walton.” He did not turn to face him, but Robert caught a wild look in his eye. “That demon must be stopped by my own hand. I cannot bring myself to imagine what further despair he would invoke on humanity. No power on Earth could move me from this task.”

No power on Earth? Robert took that as a challenge.

Robert stepped around Victor in such a way that they were finally looking at each other face-to-face. He was a bit taken aback by how completely _ disheveled _Victor seemed. More so than usual. Robert had expected to see a man filled with rage, but all he saw was his dearest companion stricken with absolute fear. How he trembled in the coldness of the night! Robert wished no more than to hold him tight and make his sorrows melt away.

Victor furrowed his brows, staring into Robert’s eyes yet seemingly looking straight through them.

“Please step aside, Walton.” His voice quivered.

Robert observed his companion. “Victor, it’s the middle of the night. Whatever this is, it can wait.”

Victor made an effort to push past him, but Robert put his hands on both his shoulders, holding him back. This man in front of him had, just a minute ago, held a fiery determination in his manner; Now, he stood shaking before his last and only friend.

Robert sighed. “_ My dear Frankenstein _…”

At this, Victor let out a rattled breath, his eyes becoming watery. “I… I can’t take it anymore.” He couldn’t speak. It was as if someone was grabbing his throat and squeezing with all their might. “I have—” he sniffed. “I have to do it.” 

The tears that had trickled down his cheek now came all at once in a steady stream. They showed no sign of stopping.

Robert’s gaze softened. “Oh, Victor…” He pulled him into his arms for a hug, resting his chin lightly atop Victor’s head.

Encased in Robert’s warm body, Victor let a sob escape from his lips. His mind screamed at him to let go, to run away before he let himself grow attached again. But Victor did not move. They stayed in this otherwise simple silence for only a moment before Victor spoke again.

“I can’t lose you too, Robert.”

Walton did not move from his current position. He stroked his fingers through Victor’s hair, waiting for him to continue.

“The monster. He has killed everyone I have known; everyone I have ever loved. I don’t want to lose you to him.”

Hearing this, Robert almost cried himself. What a sad fate Victor had resigned himself to! An existence in which he had lost those dearest to him.

An existence in which he could love no more.

“He’s not going to come here,” said Robert. He almost believed himself. “He will not hurt me. What does he know of the bond we share between us?” He looked down at Victor and smiled weakly.

Victor put a hand to Robert’s chest, shaking as he did so. “No… You don’t understand. I saw him there in my dream. The demon. H-he was coming after you. As he always did. As he swore to do to anyone close to me.”

Robert shivered.

Victor continued. “My dreams were the only comfort I ever found in the midst of my misery. Tell me, Robert, why now do the spirits of my beloved leave me with this dark premonition?” He looked up at Walton with a crazed expression. “Why now do their comforting voices leave me in silence, only to be replaced by your screams of agony?”

No reply could be made to such an exclamation. In spite of his speechlessness, Robert found an answer in his heart.

“You will not hear my screams of agony,” he said. “And neither will _ he _. For if he does come, rest be assured, Victor, you will not face him alone. We will face him together, hand in hand, brandishing our very souls. The only thing you will hear from me is the beating of my heart, the rise and fall of my lungs, for I am very much alive, and you are, too.” Robert lifted up Victor’s hand and kissed it softly. “You will never be alone, my dearest friend. I will always be here next to you.”

Victor looked into Robert’s eyes again with a deep fondness. Here was the man he was so afraid to love. As some would say, the eyes are the window to the soul. And in Walton’s eyes he found love, oh, a sweet and tender love for all things! For the rolling waves of the endless sea. For the art of expression, one that so eloquently put forth the feelings of those he adored. For his sister, and the way his eyes lit up at mention of her. For the moon, gentle and haunting all at once, and for all of her sisters, shining in the night sky. For _ him _, Victor Frankenstein, the companion he so longed for, the man who was full of so much wonder and a newly regained hope.

Victor saw all of this in Robert Walton. He knew it. And again, lip trembling, Victor began to cry.

“Robert,” he sobbed, putting his face into Walton’s chest. “Oh Robert. I am so afraid.” He sniffed, and Robert put his hand on Victor’s back, moving it up and down. “I did not want to say anything. But I never learn, do I? I should know better than to keep my feelings internalized, only for disaster to befall me.” He could barely speak, breathing in and out in between sudden sobs. Finally composing himself enough, Victor reached up and placed his hand on Robert’s cheek. “Robert Walton, I adore you. I am hopelessly smitten with you, and I can only hope you will accept me with open arms after what I have said to you.” He bit his lip. “My words were not those of indifference, but of hurt, a hurt I did not want to fact again. But alas, I am foolish to think that would not be so. You are all I have left. Yes, I will hurt again, because such is life, but when that happens I want you here by my side, for us to comfort and love each other in times of need.”

Robert’s heart skipped a beat, heat rushing to his face. He had not expected things to move so quickly, despite him initiating this. Nonetheless, he smiled, and through tears, Victor grinned back.

“Victor, I love you. Know that I will never leave your side.”

Robert’s head dipped down, and Victor’s leaned in to meet it.

Victor felt his pulse quicken, and at their lips’ touch, something rose within him. His very soul opened up, catching all of the happiness and tenderness that spilled forth from Robert’s touch. How small his fears seemed in the face of love!

It could have been a moment. It could have been eternity. What difference did it make? As they slowly pulled away, they gazed at each other and simply reveled in the moment.

No matter what horrors occurred, they knew that their love would prevail. In times of need, the other would be there. After all that suffering, after all that hate, Victor could only think of holding Robert’s hand.

"It’s late out,” Robert breathed. We should get some rest.”

"Yes,” said Victor, looking at Robert’s bed. “Let’s.”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm like obsessed with the idea of victor moving on from tragedy and learning to love again don't touch me


End file.
